1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer environment cabling systems, and particularly to an improved connector system which automatically corrects for polarity in two-wire communication systems and provides compatibility regardless of the connector pin configuration standard utilized.
2. Background
Computer environments typically employ coaxial and/or twinax cables to interconnect computer equipment such as host/controller computers to various peripherals such as terminals, printers, etc. However, since coaxial and twinax cables are high-cost cables, alternative wiring systems employing more cost-effective cables, such as Unshielded Twisted Pair ("UTP") cables, have been developed.
Briefly, a UTP cable, connecting a computer host port to a peripheral device, is made up of a two-wire pair consisting of a "tip" wire and a "ring" wire, also referred to as Phase A and Phase B wires. To establish proper communication between the computer host port and a peripheral device, the tip and ring wires at the host port side must respectively connect to the tip and ring pins of the associated peripheral device. If the tip and ring wires are reversed along the wiring path, the data link between computer and device is broken and peripheral devices will not respond to the computer commands. Reversal of the tip and ring wires may result from numerous causes. For example, inversion of the tip and ring wires may occur when cable is routed through patch panels, balun connectors or punch down blocks (such as 110-blocks or 66-blocks). These devices are used to interconnect multiple wires or cable runs with other wires or cable runs. Such communication problems result from the inability of computers and peripherals to recognize inverted data messages. Presently, if such problems arise, the tip and ring wires of the UTP cables must be traced all the way from the computer to the device in order to find where the inversion point is and correct it. While there are special "polarity detector" products that can be purchased to test and indicate the wiring polarity of a given cable to the user, the use of such products is often a time consuming process because cabling systems can interconnect a large number of devices over distances of 6,000 feet or more.
Establishing the proper connection between devices is additionally confounded by the existence of a number of connector pin configuration standards. Generally, connecting two devices requires the installation of telephone-type connectors at both ends of a connecting cable. These connectors have varying numbers of pins. For example, an RJ45 connector can accept up to eight single wires and an RJ11 connector can accept up to six single wires. Various connector pin configuration standards, for example, USOC, AT&T, Ethernet and IBM/Rohn, exist for connectors and these standards may designate different pins as the tip and ring pins. As a result, a communication breakdown occurs if a device using one configuration standard is linked directly to a device using a noncompatible standard because each device would be expecting signal transmission through different pins of the connectors. Furthermore, even if both devices utilize the same pins, a polarity problem will result if one device designates one pin as the tip while the other device designates the same pin as the ring.